Friday, July 31, 2009

It was a typical summer afternoon, yesterday in Washington, D.C. Temperatures in the 90s, muggy.

And sitting out on the lawn —the White House lawn— were President Barack Obama, Vice-President Joe Biden, Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates, Jr., and sergeant on the Cambridge, Massachusetts, police force, James Crowley.

Obama and Biden were in shirt sleeves, rolled up. Gates and Crowley were wearing dark suits.

June Christy once sang about a hot day when she drank "something cool". The professor and the sergeant and the President and Vice-President all reached for something cool: beer.

The impetus for the so-called beer summit was the President's ill-chosen words on a police incident. And bigotry's historical and continuing pervasive hold on American society, regardless of the specifics of the Cambridge incident.

The blogosphere was aTwit with furious scribbling. Obama, in drinking beer, was shamelessly adopting a common-man stance. Radio talk host Glenn Beck accused Obama of deep-seated hatred of white people.

It was never going to be just a round of beers -- not when it was being served at the White House to a black (and part Irish) Harvard professor, a white police officer (also boasting Irish roots) and the mixed-race president of the United States.

Instead, it became a glass of racial politics, with an aftertaste of class warfare.

Ogle exclaimed that the meeting was not about the beer. Well, yes, but no. The White House picnic was a teachable moment for beer.

Fans of fuller-flavored, so-called 'craft' beers, were indignant at the beer choices. Obama drank Bud Light; Gates, Samuel Adams Light; Crowley, Blue Moon; and Biden, Buckler, a non-alcoholic beer, an oxymoron for some. This smacked a bit of elitism (our choices are so much better than yours) and ignored the employment offered by at least three of these breweries to thousands of Americans. (Buckler is produced by Heineken, a Netherlands-based company.)

Employees of the Flying Dog Brewery had fun with the situation. The brewery is located in Frederick, Maryland, 40 miles or so from Washington, D.C. They marched on the White House, chanting "Think globally, drink locally."

Before yesterday, how many Americans knew that Budweiser is no longer American-owned? How many Americans assumed that Blue Moon was a Belgian beer, rather than a beverage brewed by Coors (which itself is owned by Molson). How many Americans knew that the only American-owned breweries today are the smaller 'craft' breweries, the largest of which is Boston Beer Company, brewer of Sam Adams?

Before yesterday, I'd venture not many. Today, many more.

In the opening lines to his piece on the moment and its meaning, John Dickerson at on-line Slate Magazine wrote:

Sometimes a beer is just a beer—except in politics, where beer may signify any old thing we want it to. It is the most abused of all the spirits. Since the early '70s, the typical voter has often been referred to as Joe Six-Pack. Beer made the cover of Newsweek magazine as part of a discussion of whether candidate Barack Obama (represented by a leaf of arugula) could connect with the common man (represented by a frosty mug). This was an extension of the political sorting technique of describing Democratic candidates who appeal to upscale voters as "wine track" candidates and those who appeal to blue-collar voters as being on the "beer track."

The point wasn't so much what brand of beer was served, but that it was beer that was served.

At the end of a hard day, who wouldn't like to be asked: "Hey, how about a cold beer?" That's an invitation to refreshment, fellowship, happy satisfaction. The White House picnic demonstrated, to a world-wide audience, the social utility of not-so-humble beer.

Thursday, July 30, 2009

A chef at a northern Virginia brewpub has survived celebrity chef Gordon Ramsey's histrionics ... at least for one week.

Chef Tennille Middleton has been the chef for the past 4 years at the Sweetwater Tavern —a brewpub— in Falls Church, Virginia,

She also happens to be a contestant on the Fox Network's over-the-top television program known as Hell's Kitchen. Contestants compete to demonstrate their culinary proficiency while suffering verbal abuse from Ramsay, the host. After several more episodes, the survivor of this season's show will receive the top position at a restaurant in British Columbia, Canada.

Her hometown paper (at least at present), the Falls Church News Press, took a few clues from the first episode and successfully sleuthed her out. Kudos for investigative journalism.

In an exclusive interview with the News Press at the Sweetwater Tavern last week, Tennille (as she is known on the show, no last names are used) was not allowed to say when the series was actually taped in Hollywood, or, of course, what the outcome was.

She sounded surprised when the News-Press found her and called for an interview, but she was readily willing to talk.

If Chef Middleton is victorious, my mother will miss her ... or at least her crabcakes. My mother refers to Sweetwater Tavern —despite its house-brewed beer— as the crabcake restaurant.

Hmmm. Time to check Craigslist for chef wanted ads.

UPDATE 2009.09.01: Chef Middleton advances into 9th episode.UPDATE 2009.09.22: Chef Middleton is one of 5 finalists on the program.UPDATE2009.10.07: Chef Middleton makes it to final four, loses.

The Falls Church, Virginia, Sweetwater Tavern is one of three brewpubs in northern Virginia. None are affiliated with the Sweetwater Brewing Company of Atlanta, Georgia.

In fact, the brewpub recently lost a lawsuit by the Georgia brewery which forbids the Virginia group from using the name outside of the physical brewpubs. When Sweetwater Tavern takes its beers to outside events, the beer is called Great American Restaurant Beer, after the name of the parent company.

Wednesday, July 29, 2009

The Baltimore Beer Guy blog has created a Twitter account to help Marylanders discover good beer in the state. When a Twitterer spots something special in Maryland —a new beer on draft, a special beer event, a good deal on beer at a certain beer shop, good beer news pertaining to Maryland, etc.— he or she can Tweet the story on Twitter.It's called MDBeerSpotter, and here's how it works.

At some point in the Tweet, they should include "@MDbeerspotter" (exclude the quotation marks, but include the @). Keep in mind that Twitter is only 140 characters per tweet.The phrase @MDbeerspotter is 15 characters (14 + one space). So, if you're the one Tweeting, limit the content to 125 characters.

To see these posts, go to your Twitter account and 'follow' MDbeerspotter. (That's a reference to Maryland, not the medical profession.) Now, whenever someone posts about a beer spotting and uses that address in the Tweet, you'll see their discovery.

If all this appears as gobbledygook to you, but you remain interested, go to my post about @beerspotter. That's a Twitter account set up by a writer at the Washington City Paper specifically for 'spotting' DC-area good beer.

My post on it goes on at length about Twitter, and how to use that service.

2009.07.20Starbucks to experiment with serving beer and wine at 3 Seattle test stores called "15th Ave. Coffee and Tea". http://bit.ly/y4qJA.

2009.07.20Some Miller beers are now brewed by Coors in Golden, CO. Some Coors Light are now brewed at Miller plants. http://bit.ly/eNffR.

2009.07.20More states are changing regulations in order to allow beer sampling in stores. http://usat.me/?35690244. However, some states such as Georgia and N. Carolina do NOT allow beer sampling in stores. There is a movement in North Carolina to change things: http://permitbeer.com/

2009.07.20Recommended summer reading: "Hops and Glory" by Pete Brown. Much more than one man's search for historical IPA. http://bit.ly/20Of0k.

2009.07.19Largest group on Facebook: 35-54. Fastest growing group: over age 54. http://bit.ly/188ep5.

Real cask cider, pulled from a cask, at Rustico restaurant in Alexandria, Va. 2009.03.27. Gwatkin Yarlington single varietal cider from the UK. First time in USA since 2003.

In a manner reminiscent of good-wine drinkers shying from beer because they think all beer to be light lager, there are some good-beer drinkers who pass on real cider. They think of all cider as flavored alcohol cocktails.

But real cider is not that. It is indeed wine, but carbonated: simultaneously tart, tannic, phenolic, and juicy.

Cask cider from the UK --which will not be poured at this fest-- is often referred to as Real Cider, and is relatively strong at 7-8% alcohol by volume. [When I first posted, I unintentionally omitted the modifier "cask" before "cider". As listed above, bottled English cider will indeed be served at the fest. Also, see the comment from Alexander D Mitchell IV below. Some of the bottled English cider exported to the US may be tasty --excluding the flavored stuff-- but it is not nearly as remarkable as the casked variety.]

French cider, called cidre, is principally produced in Normandy. It's lower in alcohol than English cider, but it packs a tannic/phenolic punch, with a character like chewing on an apple skin.

There is a nascent cider revival in the US, but government regulations on taxes and procedures make a robust industry problematic.

Wednesday, July 22, 2009

North Carolina brewery owner Uli Benowitz once asked Brickskeller host Bob Tupper what he should talk about at the tasting that evening in Washington, D.C. "I've already told all my stories," he said.

That was 1992.

Almost 25 17 years later, it's a bigger and different good beer landscape. There are new stories to be told, his and ours.

But old stories do have to be repeated, and repeated again. Not only for amusement, but because there's always room for more beer education. Take, for example, these three beer whoppers that I recently overheard in bars.

IPAs (India PALE Ales) are very dark beers, just like stouts.

This beer was brewed with dexatrim malt. (That might give a whole new meaning to 'lite' —or would that be 'diet'— beer. What was meant was 'dextrine malt,' a type of malted barley that adds body to beer.)

(And this outrageous comment I overheard only last evening.) During World War II, the Nazis stole the recipe for Budweiser from the Czechs and sold it to Anheuser-Busch. (Hmmm. Wouldn't that make A-B collaborators and fools? And Czech pilsners watery like North American Light Lagers?)

By the way, have you heard the one about the man who walked into a bar and ...

If you're in North Carolina and you happen to run into Mr. Benowitz, ask him to tell you his stories about the early days of craft beer: the alcohol revenue agents, and the painted yellow 'bonded' line, and the fermenters on wheels.

Tuesday, July 21, 2009

This blog —Yours For Good Fermentables.com— has been reviewed by Steve Sullivan who, along with Baltimore Sun 'features' columnist Rob Kasper, writes that paper's on-line (is that an oxymoron?) beer blog: Kasper On Tap.

Steve interviewed me last week by cell phone. How I would come across without the luxury of self-editing? Here:

"I don’t review beers very often. It’s done to the nth degree. Anybody can write a review. ... At the end of the day, how many ways can you describe the flavor of a hop? ... if you’re just talking about 'I just had a beer,' that’s the end of the story. That’s your blog.

Beer to me is much more of a cultural thing. It’s how you have it, where you have it, with whom you have it, what you were eating when you had it, what you felt like. There’s a lot more to it. "

And then, in less verbose fashion, I sum things up:

Cizauskas says that anybody who hangs out with him long enough can attest to the fact that, with him, everything all comes back to beer.

Friday, July 17, 2009

27 Junely. 11am. Attended memorial service for Albert Sisson, patriarch of Maryland's brewpubs. Baltimore's Holy Redeemer Episcopal Church was filled with people honoring his memory. Drove back to Leesburg, Virginia. Why all the traffic ... on a Saturday afternoon?

3:30pm Arrived at Morven Park. Packed! A lot of cask fans, waiting. I tapped the firkin of Clipper City's Loose Cannon Hop3 Ale with an ale extractor and connected it to a beer engine.

Moved on to the Flying Dog Gonzo Imperial Porter. The cask had already been tapped but the beer was not pouring well: the tap was malfunctioning. I inserted a hard spile into the tut to create a partial vacuum and removed the plastic tap, quickly replacing it with a metal Harry Mason tap. It seemed to do the trick.

Moved on to the firkin of Brooklyn Blast!Double IPA, which was waiting in in a ice bucket. I tapped it with an ale extractor as well. Big explosion of beer! Mmmm.lots of earthy and citrusy hops. But I had brought along the incorrect hose barb. Joe from Select Wines used duct tape to MacGyver the connection. It worked

I finished, tapping a pin (a cask half the volume of a firkin) of Allagash Curieux, the brewery's Belgian-tripel-style ale, which had been aged in Jim Beam oak barrels and then re-fermented in the cask. Not as messy.

30 minutes, 4 casks.

The next day, Sunday, I was on-site well before the festival gates opened, and I brought the proper barb.

The excitement that day was created by a cask of Gonzo Porter fitted with a solid bung with no tut through which to release excess pressure. (Probably a bung for an old-style Hoff-Stevens keg.) And the cask definitely had pressure. I worked a screwdriver into the bung and, boy did that baby blow! (Tasted great, though.) I was fortunate that I had an extra pair of shorts into which to change.

Random observations.

Bob and Ellie Tupper were on hand with kegs of their 'new' Hop Pocket Ale, which has just begun to be brewed again after a two year absence. It's brewed now by St. George Brewery, in Hampton Roads, Virginia. (In the photograph, that's Bob on the right, with Dean Lake, who is soon to assume the brewing responsibilities at Vintage 50, when Bill Madden departs for his soon-to-open brewpub, Mad Fox.)

Marc Sorini, a lawyer who specializes in alcohol regulations, is on board to shepherd the duo through the maze of licensing and laws.

Favio Garcia and Matt Hagerman, both ex of Dominion Brewing, have purchased the brewhouse of that closed Ashburn, Virginia brewery. They are scouting locations in Ashburn, in which to open their own brewery: Rhino Chasers Beer.

Representatives of Legend Brewing in Richmond, Virginia, had a booth. I drank a few Brown Ales, talking with brewer Mike Killelea (second from right) about the progress of the installation of the Krones bottling line. Slow but steady, he assured me, and on-line soon.

John Moorhead of Clipper City (Business Development Manager) brought along a few sample bottles of The Big DIPA, a 10.6% alcohol by volume double India Pale Ale (hence the name), and the first in a projected line of 22-ounce 'bomber' bottles. He expects sales in Virginia at some point in July.

Angela Campbell was at the festival scouting breweries for the newest World Beer Festival. Known affectionately as the festival's "beer wrangler", she is on the staff of All About Beer Magazine, which is the sponsoring organization of the festival. For 14 years the festival has been held in North Carolina. Then, earlier this year, All About Beer expanded the event to South Carolina, and now, Richmond, Virginia, in late August. That's Angela on the left. To the right is Becky of Long Distributing in North Carolina, showing off her Delerium tattoo.

UPDATE: 14 July. All About Beer has announced a postponement of the Richmond event until spring 2010. The press release explained: "“Some of the preparations are taking longer than expected, and we need more time to ensure that the World Beer Festival Richmond meets its potential." Musings Over A Pint has more.

I'll give All About Beer the benefit of the doubt. However, I would be remiss if I failed to report the following: North Carolina allows the 100% donation of beer to such events. And most of the participating breweries do just that in return for the promotional exposure their beer receives (and one-night motel accommodations).

Virginia forbids this: all beer must be paid for.

Wine at a beer festival? Why not?

I've asked several Virginia wineries why they don't attend beer festivals. Some have replied that they pick and choose, and indeed I have noticed a few different wineries at different festivals.

But some have replied that they were not interested in 'drunk fests'... as if wine with an average alcohol-by-volume 2 to 3 times greater than that of 'average' beer wouldn't induce euphoria at a wine festival. A festival of better beer is about the experience not just the buzz, as is a better wine festival. Those wineries deliberately skipping better beer festivals lose the opportunity to gain new customers (demographically and numbers-wise).

Tarara Winery is in the first camp. Their booth at the fest had lines both days.

Good friends and good foodistsHard Times Café (I'm a fan of their veggie chili!, Robert Farr The Chili Man, and Cabot Cheese were present, as they were last year (and in the past during the days of the late, lamented Dominion Fest). But the festival seemingly ignores much of the local food scene: not only restaurants, but farms, fishermen, and dairies. A lost opportunity.

And, without a doubt, I congratulated Bill Madden on a well-run festival. How do those kegs get to each booth so that the beer keeps flowing? Bill has been running beer festivals in northern Virginia for more than a decade, beginning with the Shirlington Oktoberfest when he was Executive Brewer at Capitol City Brewery. (That's Bill in the cart.)

Saturday, the weather was sunny and warm. Sunday, there was light drizzle at the outset. But that stopped, and the day became a good day for drinking good beer. The autumn festival moves to Manassas, Virginia, on 24/25 October.

I received an email today from 'Hoppy' Jeff Wells, supplying more detail on the upcoming DC Beer Week: 16-20 August 2009.

Rather than being simply a 'beer' week, DC Beer Week seems to be moving more toward a celebration of beer culture in Washington D.C. —beer, food, people, and music. Since Jeff's email wasn't an actual press release —which Jeff promises will follow— I've taken the liberty of paraphrasing to a small extent (with permission).

DC Beer Week [16-20 August 2009] has actually been in discussion for quite a few months- even before Savor, when a distributor [Premium] decided to do their own 'DC Craft Beer Week'.

Who

I should mention that, even though I have been involved with a lot of the planning, this is the brainchild of Chef Teddy Folkman, a partner in Granville Moore's, Capitol Lounge, and H St Country Club. There —and at The Reef and Vermilion, where he worked in the past— Folkman has been instrumental in helping to foster the beer culture in DC.

It won't only be bars to be involved. Also active in the planning have been restaurant entrepreneur Joe Englert and the folks at Matchbox.

What

The idea is to celebrate the diversity of the DC bar & restaurant scene, and, in doing so, to emphasize beer's prominent role. So, although many of the brands of my employer [DOPS, a DC and Maryland wine and beer wholesaler] will be involved, no one company will have an exclusive on this.

We chose the summertime because the restaurant business is generally slow at that time, it allowed us more time to get folks organized, and many brewers will be in town for Brew at the Zoo.

Where

The general idea is to start with the concert at the Rock & Roll Hotel (as you know beer & music go so well together!) on Aug 16 that will reflect the diversity of the DC music scene.

We will then have events Mon, Tue, & Wed (Aug 17-19) in different parts of town- an event each night in Adams Morgan, H ST/Atlas District NE, U St/Logan Circle, & Dupont/Georgetown, etc.

We are also trying to do events that are beer & food related— such as dinners— to further elevate beer in the culinary world.

This is the first year of us trying to do something like this in DC. We are deciding to start small and grow. This includes the amount of breweries and venues. We are planning on a dozen or so breweries participating and 20- 25 bar/restaurants. We are still working on many details, getting commitments from many people involved, and promoting DC Beer Week through all of the smart channels.

And then Jeff gets to Why:

It seems as if everyone wants to emulate "Philly Beer Week". Those guys have done and absolutely incredible job and the planning involved with something that huge took many people and lots of time. Washington, D.C. is growing and its beer culture is evolving. I think our main hope for us to all realize that Washington, D.C is fast becoming a great beer town. Let's celebrate that.

Thanks and will send you more information as we have it.

Jeff Wells

Jeff's point is well-taken. This year's first DC Craft Beer Week had less to do with the craft beers of DC than with the craft beers supplied by that distributor (some of which, to be fair, were local beers).

Personally, I'd like to see something even more in that direction: a week-long, region-wide celebration of local beer and local food. Have local farms and farmers, local watermen, local dairies, local breweries and brewers, and local restaurants and chefs team up for a true and joyous celebration of the local mid-Atlantic gustatory experience. (SAVOR —a national beer-with-food exposition held in D.C.— surprisingly failed to do that.)

But it is not I who am planning DC Beer Week. Jeff and Chef Folkman are. So, I wish them well. And, I wholeheartedly support them.

Most of my photographs are, of course, beer-related, and uploaded to Flickr.com. I checked the statistics: 4,594 are 'tagged' with the term "beer". Some are work-a-day; some are a bit more interesting. You can judge for yourself: www.flickr.com/photos/cizauskas

Thursday, July 09, 2009

A quick post today about a quick (and easy) meal: Baked Spaghetti ... paired, of course, with a beer!

Hoppy beers (both the spicy aroma and spicy or dry finish) mate well with spicy foods. In this case: jalapenos and various herbs, Hop Devil IPA from Victory Brewing of Pennsylvania. Photo collage of recipe here.

**********************Thursdays at Yours For Good Fermentables.com are meatless Thursdays —as inspired by VeggieDag in Ghent, Belgium.

Tom Balthazar [mayor of Ghent, Belgium] has officially declared Thursday meatless in his city of nearly a quarter million people. In an effort to make the connection between meat consumption and greenhouse gases (18 percent of which come from livestock production), Balthazar has asked his fellow civil servants to abstain from meat every Thursday.

Tuesday, July 07, 2009

Aug 16-20DC BEER WEEKWith a line-up that features more than a dozen breweries and 25 restaurants across the district, the Inaugural DC Beer Week is set to kick off on Sunday, August 16th.

The 5-day event will kick off with a Suds Celebration and concert at the Rock and Roll Hotel. Daily tastings and presentations by domestic and international breweries will be available every day at participating restaurants and bars.

*Please Note DC Beer week is still in planning stages. The two confirmed events are-

The earlier 'DC Beer Week' was organized by a Washington DC area beer wholesaler at the end of May (and had the word "craft" in its title.). It was really just a loose series of events (although some were indeed excellent events) scheduled the week before SAVOR, the national food with beer exposition organized by the Brewers Association, the national advocacy group for small US breweries. There wasn't much coordination with local breweries.

Thursday, July 02, 2009

Beer is a versatile cooking ingredient. Low enough in alcohol and acidity, it can be an almost one-for-one substitute for water in a recipe ... yet one with flavor. Malt, caramel, roast, toast, cocoa, meaty, spice, earthy.

But ... there is a reason you'll find recipes scaled for exactly 6 ounces of beer. The remaining 6 are reserved for the chef. Beer cuisine is as much pairing food with beer as it is cooking with it.

At lunch the other day it was a saison —a Belgian-style ale with flavors of sweet cooking spices derived from yeast fermentation ... additionally spiced in the cask with dried peels of Mineola orange, lemon, lime, and with juniper and Cubeb (Japanese peppercorn) berries, coriander, dried fresh ginger, rosemary sprigs ... and additional hops.

**********************Thursdays at Yours For Good Fermentables.com are meatless Thursdays —as inspired by VeggieDag in Ghent, Belgium.

Tom Balthazar [mayor of Ghent, Belgium] has officially declared Thursday meatless in his city of nearly a quarter million people. In an effort to make the connection between meat consumption and greenhouse gases (18 percent of which come from livestock production), Balthazar has asked his fellow civil servants to abstain from meat every Thursday.

Wednesday, July 01, 2009

For all you intrepid devotees of good beer in the Washington, D.C. area: Orr Shtuhl of the Young and Hungry at the Washington City Paper has changed his Twitter (@beerspotter) procedure.So, now ... if you wish to spot, alert, and Tweet (that is, post to Twitter) about your good beer finds in the Washington, D.C. area, use the phrase "@beerspotter" (excluding the quotation marks) anywhere in your 140 character Twitter post.